Nigerian Foreign Policy SS2 Citizenship & Heritage Studies Lesson Note

Subject: Citizenship and Heritage Studies  

Class: SS2 

Focus: Principles, Objectives, and Achievements

Introduction: What is Foreign Policy?

Think of Nigeria as a person living in a very large street (the World).

• Your Internal Policy is how you behave inside your own house (how you cook, how you treat your siblings).
• Your Foreign Policy is how you behave when you step outside. Who are your best friends? Who do you trade with? How do you react when there is a fight on the street?

In short, Foreign Policy is the set of goals that shows how Nigeria interacts with other countries like Ghana, the USA, China, or South Africa.

The Main Principles of Our Foreign Policy

These are the “Ground Rules” that Nigeria follows whenever we deal with other nations. We don’t just act anyhow; we follow these:

• Non-Alignment: During the “Cold War” when the USA and Russia were fighting, Nigeria decided not to take sides. We chose to be friends with everyone.
• Legal Equality of States: Whether a country is as big as China or as small as Togo, Nigeria believes every country should be respected equally.
• Non-Interference: We believe countries should solve their own internal problems. Nigeria doesn’t just jump into another country’s business unless we are invited to help.
• Afrocentrism (Africa as the Centerpiece): This is the most important one. Nigeria believes that Africa’s problems are our problems. We always put Africa first in everything we do.

Our Key Objectives (What are we trying to achieve?)

Why do we bother having foreign friends? Here is what Nigeria wants:

1. Protecting Our Image: To make sure the world respects Nigeria and Nigerians living abroad.
2. Promoting Peace: Nigeria wants a peaceful world because if our neighbors (like Benin or Niger) are at war, it will eventually affect us.
3. Economic Growth: We make friends so we can sell our oil and buy the things we don’t produce, like cars and specialized technology.
4. Ending Racism and Oppression: Nigeria has always fought against people being treated badly because of their skin color (like we did during Apartheid in South Africa).
5. Unity of Africa: We work to make African countries stronger by working together through groups like the AU (African Union) and ECOWAS.

Major Achievements of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy

Nigeria is often called the “Giant of Africa” not just because of our size, but because of what we have done for others:

• Ending Apartheid in South Africa: Many years ago, black people in South Africa were treated like second-class citizens. Nigeria spent millions of dollars and used “diplomatic heavy lifting” to help them get their freedom.
• Peacekeeping in West Africa: When countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone had terrible civil wars in the 90s, Nigerian soldiers (under ECOMOG) went there to stop the killing and bring back peace.
• Leadership in ECOWAS: Nigeria was a founding father of ECOWAS. We help make it easy for Nigerians to travel and do business in places like Ghana or Ivory Coast without needing a visa.
• Technical Aid Corps (TAC): Nigeria sends our professionals (doctors, teachers, engineers) to help smaller African and Caribbean countries that don’t have enough experts. We pay their salaries just to be a “big brother.”

Challenges We Face Today

It’s not always easy to be the “Giant.” We face some hurdles:

• Domestic Problems: It is hard to tell another country to be peaceful when we have our own security issues at home.
• Economic Strength: To be a leader in the world, you need a very strong economy. When the Naira is weak, our voice abroad sometimes feels a bit quieter.
• Changing World: With new powers like China playing a big role, Nigeria has to be very smart about how we balance our friendships.

Summary Table for Quick Revision

Class Discussion Question

Nigeria spends a lot of money helping other African countries. Do you think we should keep doing this, or should we keep all our money to fix our own roads and schools first?